History of Essential Oils

According to the translation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Chinese manuscripts, priests and physicians were using extracted oils from plants for healing thousands of years before Christ. This makes essential oils the earliest known medicine. Highly revered, the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt routinely exchanged Blue Lotus Oil with the kings of India for slaves, gold and other precious goods. And so it is, essential oils were at one time in history considered more valuable than gold. The Egyptians created fragrances for personal use as well as for ritualistic and ceremonial use in temples and pyramids. According to the earliest historical records available, they used balsamic substances with aromatic properties for medicine. Egyptian high priests used fragrances for opening the subconscious mind and increasing their ability to communicate with the spirit world. In 1817 the 870-foot Ebers Papyrus was discovered. Dating back to 1500 B.C., it was called a medicinal scroll. It mentioned over 800 herbal perscriptions and remedies. Other scrolls indicate that the Egyptians had a high success rate in treating as many as 81 different diseases. Many mixtures they used contained myrrh and honey. Myrrh was used for embalming becouse of it's effectiveness in preventing bacterial growth.


The Romans
also played an important role in the history of essential oils. They were very much into fumigating and diffusing oils in their temples and political buildings as well as bathing in hot tubs scented with oils followed by a fragrant massage with their favorite oils.


During a devastating plaque in Athens in 200 B.C., Hippocrates fumigated the entire Greek city with aromatic essence to prevent further spreading of disease. By the 12 century, almost every monastery and convent in Europe planted a garden of healing herbs, and some of those herbs found their way into purification ceremonies. A 16th-century doctor from Verona, Italy, had such success warding off the plaque using aromatic oils that the town erected a statue in his honor.


Spice container
Venice, 17-18th-century.